PDL members are kept notified via our regular email notices called Practice Alerts. We bring awareness to potential risks that could impede on the pharmacy profession. They are often sent reactively, from trends and incident reports conducted by PDL and other influencing bodies, in a bid to help our members avoid an incident. They can be national alerts or state-specific if connected to local legislation.
A wide range of guides and resources are also available to PDL members that have been developed to support pharmacists in their daily practice.
Pharmacists are at the forefront of patient care, ensuring the safe and effective use of medications. Despite pharmacists best efforts, incidents can result in complaints, even if there is minimal impact on the patient and immediate resolution has occurred. This
PDL Professional Officers occasionally receive incident reports and notifications relating to breaches or concerns regarding access to a patient’s My Health Record. Some of these cases require responses to the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) and/or the Office of the
PDL Professional Officers continue to receive enquiries and incident reports that have contributing factors such as pressure, stress, workload or fatigue. PDL recognises the high demands placed on community and hospital pharmacists including interns, pharmacy owners and other staff members
Meridian Lawyers issue state and territory-specific guides It’s OK to say sorry. Pharmacists are human beings and fallible, so despite their best efforts, adverse events and mistakes can still occur. A key component of managing an incident is offering a
Pharmacists breaching regulations involving opioid replacement therapy (ORT) are quickly referred to the regulators. A recent blitz from NSW Health against pharmacies that provide...
Aggression towards pharmacists is sometimes used as a bullying tactic by an individual to get their own way in such matters as the early supply of staged supply or the prompt dispensing of a...
Atropine 0.01% eye drops are not commercially available and Atropt 1% should not be supplied. Despite warning its pharmacist members against this error in 2018, PDL continues to receive incident...
A pharmacy’s dispensing history was once a closed loop within the pharmacy walls. However today, with the advent of My Health Record and real time monitoring, the situation is very different. A...
Off Label Use or Misuse/Abuse Pharmacists are expected to have a contemporary knowledge of the drugs that are subject to abuse or misuse, both generally and in their own localities. Steroids and...
Set rules early The provision of medicines via a staged supply process is common practice in many pharmacies. While the benefits are apparent for the patient, prescribers and pharmacies, there are...
Pharmaceutical Defence Limited (PDL) acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the Elders past and present.